Mark Scheme

Section A — Reading

1. (5 marks) Reward what candidates learn about Priya's feelings, supported by evidence.

• She loves the last bus, especially because it is empty ("had come to love it for that").
• She prefers the quiet night city to the crowded day ("the sour crush of umbrellas" by day versus the "quieter city").
• She is grieving / avoiding home — she goes "the long way because home, since her mother had gone, was not somewhere she hurried towards", suggesting sadness and reluctance.
• 4–5 = a clear, well-supported understanding of two or more feelings with apt evidence; 2–3 = some understanding with some evidence; 1 = a simple point.

2. (10 marks) Reward analysis of how language creates a vivid night-time picture. Candidates might explore:

• The simile/metaphor "the streets shone like spilled ink" and "Shop signs bled their colours down the wet tarmac" — colour and wetness made vivid; "bled" suggests something almost eerie/beautiful.
• The personification of the bus: it "sighed", is "patient as an old animal that knew its way home" — makes the bus a living, comforting presence.
• The cinematic image "the great windscreen turned the road into a film."
• Sensory detail and the fleeting "a fox trotted across an empty junction and was gone" — emptiness and stillness.
• 8–10 = perceptive analysis of several examples with precise terminology and effect; 5–7 = clear comments on some examples with effect; 3–4 = identifies features with simple comment; 1–2 = a few features spotted.

3. (15 marks) Reward a personal, well-supported response to the statement.

• Supporting "sad and lonely": Priya is left alone as "the bus pulled away without her"; the beautiful image of the "lit windows shrinking to a single gold point before the night folded over it completely" suggests warmth departing and darkness/loneliness closing in; going "down into the cold".
• Qualifying it: the moment is also peaceful/tender — she is "unwilling to break the spell"; the driver is "not unkindly"; the writing finds beauty in the solitude, so it may be more melancholy/reflective than simply sad.
• Reward engagement with "how far" — a considered view either way, grounded in the text.
• 13–15 = perceptive, exploratory response with precise evidence and analysis of method; 9–12 = clear, developed response; 5–8 = some relevant comment with support; 1–4 = simple/limited.

Section B — Writing

Communication and organisation (18 marks): reward a controlled, engaging piece matched to purpose (description/narrative opening); well-chosen vocabulary and imagery; clear structure and paragraphing; a consistent viewpoint.

• 15–18 = sophisticated, ambitious, well-crafted and controlled; 11–14 = clear, engaging and organised; 7–10 = a competent piece with some organisation; 1–6 = basic.

Spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary (12 marks): reward accuracy and range of sentence structures and punctuation, and ambitious, correctly spelled vocabulary.

• 10–12 = accurate with a range of punctuation and ambitious vocabulary; 7–9 = mostly accurate; 4–6 = some accuracy, some errors; 1–3 = frequent errors.

Sample Answers with Examiner Commentary

Question 2 — Sample Answers

Grade A response (extract). "The writer creates a vivid picture of the wet night-time city mainly through striking imagery of light and water. The simile 'the streets shone like spilled ink' makes the rain-soaked tarmac seem dark, glossy and beautiful, while the metaphor 'Shop signs bled their colours down the wet tarmac' uses the verb 'bled' to suggest the colours running and smearing across the wet ground — an image that is vivid and slightly eerie, as if the city itself is wounded and glowing. The writer also personifies the bus, which 'sighed at each stop' and is described as 'patient as an old animal that knew its way home in the dark'; this makes the bus feel alive and comforting, a gentle companion moving through the empty streets. Finally, the fleeting detail of the fox that 'trotted across an empty junction and was gone' captures the stillness and emptiness of the city at this hour, making the reader feel how deserted and quiet it is."

Mark: 9/10. Examiner commentary: A perceptive answer that selects several well-chosen examples and analyses the effect of each, using accurate terminology (simile, metaphor, personification). The candidate does more than label devices — they explore why 'bled' is effective (colours running, slightly eerie) and how the personified bus becomes a 'comforting companion', linking method to atmosphere. The comment on the fox connects a small detail to the wider impression of emptiness. Precise, embedded quotation and consistent focus on effect place this near the top of the band.

Grade C response (extract). "The writer describes the city at night using good description. It says 'the streets shone like spilled ink' which is a simile and makes it sound shiny and wet. The bus 'sighed' which is personification because buses can't really sigh. There is also a fox which shows it is empty. This all makes a good picture of the city."

Mark: 5/10. Examiner commentary: The candidate identifies three valid features — the simile, the personification and the fox detail — and correctly names two of them, which shows understanding. However, the analysis of effect is thin: 'shiny and wet' and 'a good picture' are general, and the personification is spotted ('buses can't really sigh') without exploring what it adds (that it makes the bus feel alive and comforting). To move up, each quotation needs a developed comment on the effect it creates and the atmosphere it builds, rather than simply naming the technique.

Question 3 — Sample Answers

Grade A response (extract). "I partly agree that the ending is sad and lonely, but I think it is more accurately melancholy and peaceful. There is certainly loneliness: Priya is left behind as 'the bus pulled away without her', and the beautiful closing image of its 'lit windows shrinking to a single gold point before the night folded over it completely' suggests the warmth and light of company departing, leaving her alone as the darkness closes in like a blanket. Going 'down into the cold' reinforces this bleakness. However, the writer also makes the moment tender rather than simply miserable. Priya is 'unwilling to break the spell', which shows she treasures this solitude, and the driver speaks 'not unkindly'. The extract finds real beauty in her aloneness, so I would argue the ending is reflective and bittersweet — coloured by her grief for her mother — rather than only sad and lonely."

Mark: 14/15. Examiner commentary: A sophisticated, exploratory response that genuinely engages with 'how far'. Rather than agreeing flatly, the candidate argues for a more precise reading — 'melancholy and peaceful', 'bittersweet' — and supports both the loneliness (the bus leaving, the shrinking gold point, 'into the cold') and the tenderness ('unwilling to break the spell', 'not unkindly') with embedded evidence and analysis of the effect. Connecting the mood to Priya's grief shows perceptive whole-text understanding, securing a mark near the top of the band.